‘Joyeux Noël’ everyone, which is to say Merry Christmas in French
Christmas Around the World with CurrClick has partnered with myself and nine other homeschool bloggers this week.
Since I am primarily of French descent I jumped at the chance to represent my ancestors home country. As I read about the customs I was blessed to find that we still honor some of these traditions: the sacred displaying of the nativity, making of the yule log, placement of shoes, and the late dinner. It is so interesting to see how things are passed from generation to generation and to see where the customs originated.
Decorations
In France, a Nativity crib or ‘creche’ is filled with clay figurines to represent those present at the birth of Christ. Christmas trees are not very popular in France, but yule logs made out of cherry wood are often burned in French homes. The log is carried into the home on Christmas Eve and is sprinkled with red wine to make the log smell nice when it is burning. There is a custom that the log and candles are left burning all night with some food and drinks left out in case Mary and the baby Jesus come past during the night.
Customs
French children put their shoes in front of the fireplace, in the hopes that Père Noël (Santa Claus) will fill them with gifts. He travels with his strict companion Pre Fouettard, who reminds Pere Noel of just how each child has behaved during the past year.
Food
The main Christmas meal, Le Reveillon, is a very late supper held after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. A yule log cake (called a bûche de Noël) is eaten for dessert.
Buche de Noel, a French Christmas Tradition (Christmas Yule Log Cake)
Ingredients
* 2 cups heavy cream
* 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 6 egg yolks
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 6 egg whites
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a 10×15 inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whip cream, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until thick and stiff. Refrigerate.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until thick and pale. Blend in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, and salt. In large glass bowl, using clean beaters, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until whites form stiff peaks. Immediately fold the yolk mixture into the whites. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Dust a clean dishtowel with confectioners’ sugar. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and turn the warm cake out onto the towel. Remove and discard parchment paper. Starting at the short edge of the cake, roll the cake up with the towel. Cool for 30 minutes.
- Unroll the cake, and spread the filling to within 1 inch of the edge. Roll the cake up with the filling inside. Place seam side down onto a serving plate, and refrigerate until serving. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
Music
Learn to sing “Jingle Bells” in French
Tintez Cloches, Tintez Cloches (Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells)
Tintez dans la nuit (Ring in the night)
Pere Noel et ses grand daims (Santa Claus and his big reindeer)
Arrivent toute de suite..ite (Are coming soon)
….
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I’ll use this next year when we study France. There are so many great things to learn and there’s no way we could learn it all in one year.
Thanks for the great info. about Christmas in France.
Did not know that there is a helper for Pere Noel, so that was neat to learn, too.
Thank you for the Buche de Noel recipe and the link to the French song, too.
I blogged about this blog hop:
http://sunriselearninglab.blogspot.com/2010/12/delicious-discounts-fabulous-freebies.html
Nice prizes for the giveaway, too. We are trying to teach our sons some French along with Spanish.
Joyeaux Noel!
Colleen:)
Your information on France was very interesting. The yule cake does look scrumptious! I am going to attempt to sing the Jingle Bells song with my children! Thanks so much!
Thank you for this wonderful insight. We will be spending next winter in Europe for a study abroad program, so this was a fun look at Christmas in France for me and the kids!
Thank you for sharing this! My daughter is taking French and this is a perfect fit for our studies! We will be trying out the recipe and singing Jingle Bells/Tintez Cloches all the way!
I would love to have this for our Geography Fair coming up after Christmas.
Thanks for all the info. My kids are really into France this year! Love it all!!!!
Hi Amy,
I’m living in La Belle Province (Quebec) for the last five years and Christmas is celebrated in the very same way (except cherry logs). It is so nice to see that so many generations kept the traditions of their ancestors.
Joyeaux Noël!
I’m of French, so it’s neat to read about the how the French celebrate. And I’ve always wanted to try making a yule log, so now that I have a recipe, I’ll have to give it a try!
Thank you so much for the information on French Christmas traditions. Some are so similar to those of other countries, but with a French twist.
Thanks for the recipe, it reminded me that long ago I tried my hand at a jelly roll cake, this recipe looks very do-able, I will have to try it!
Thank you and God Bless you and your family.
I’m French descent too, Amy! Joyeaux Noel!
Thanks so much for sharing all your valuable information! This was so very fun!
Thank you for the information and the opportunity to win! That cake looks so good!
Yum! Buche de Noel — can’t wait to try it
Blessings,
Jacque
I can’t WAIT to make a yule log now! Looks delicious!!
We’re learning French so it would be lovely to win one of the France related prizes. France is such a beautiful country
Wow, so they eat dinner at like 1 or 2 AM??
Thank you for all the great information. It is interesting how so many European traditions are similar. My ancestry is Norwegian and I thought the Yule log was strictly a Scandinavian tradition. We always had a decorated log which held candles to place on the table but now we are excited to try the recipe. Looks great!
Thank you for the reciepe, we will have to try it this year.
Kelli
Amy,
I’m just really glad to see you back posting. I’ve been keeping you and your family in prayer as I know this is a very hard time. (esp. at Christmas) Keep resting and trusting in God. He will never let you down!
Tracy
My husband’s family always has Log Cake for Christmas. It’s yummy.
Thanks for an interesting post! The yule log cake looks delicious–we’re all glad you included the recipe. We also had fun time trying to sing “Jingle Bells” in French. Thanks for including the words and video to that, too.
It has been so interesting to learn about the different traditions. Thank you for this one.
Von
PS. It would be nice if you give each book or two to a different commenter.
My boys when they were in public school were in the french immersion program. The French culture is really interesting to study and learn about. Thank you for sharing some pretty cool highlights.
That Yule Log looks scrumptious! Thanks for the recipe. And the French Christmas song was beautiful.
Thanks for the info and the recipes. We’re going to be going through all this next week. I LOVE that the recipe you included is also – surprisingly GLUTEN FREE! Yeah! I have a daughter that can’t eat gluten and 90% of recipes for Christmas a flour based. We’ll definitely make this. Thanks!
Carinne
They do yule logs cakes here in the UK too. I will have to check if it is the same recipe
Thank you for sharing and the yule log cake sounds yummy
It’s so exciting to learn about Christmas traditions around the world. We typically celebrate random holidays from around the world just for fun and to do little unit studies about those countries. But we actually haven’t done anything with France yet, except building a model of the Eiffel tower and discuss how Alberto Santos Dumont was educated there, as well as built and flew his first aircrafts there. I think that making a yule log cake sounds like a great idea. I was thinking about it anyway as they showed one on the new the other day.
Thanks!
listerman3 at hotmail dot com
Got a kick out of the song. Trying to sing it with kids who have taken Spanish for years sounds hysterical. Needless to say my southern accent doesn’t help.
I love the name of Santa Claus in French!
Thanks for participating in CurrClick’s tour for Christmas! I had no idea that St. Nick had a helper – always wondered how he kept all those kids straight:) Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Yumm!! That Yule log looks so tasty. Wish we did not have food allergies that preclude us eating something like that. So, I will enjoy it visually!!
Coming from Canada where we have a lot of French culture intertwined in our lives, I could relate to many aspects of the Christmas celebration that you mentioned.
Thank you for taking part in this, it is fascinating to here how others celebrate Christmas.
I’m really enjoying learning about the different traditions. We’re making notes and will tackle this idea next year for a holiday unit.
Thanks
that yule log dessert looks divine!! YUMMY!
Thanks for the chance to win!
This looks like fun!
Hello,
I remember learning to sing Jingle Bells in my French class in High School.
That is interesting about the yule log. I always associated it with the Scandinavian countries. Thank you for sharing about Christmas in France.
God Bless,
Sherry